


To Be Stronger

by Lazchan



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 12:31:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4606845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>so cynicwithatwist  and mizu--ayoggymadhatter wanted a cracky sort of cliche Jaeha/Yona fic in exchange for something I’ve asked for. This turned out more serious and less cliche, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Stronger

  
She was getting stronger; she told herself that every time they got caught up in a skirmish of any sort. She would no longer stand in the background, she decided, waiting for her dragons and Hak to protect her. They got hurt because of her, because they were trying to shield her from danger. It wasn't fair to them and she knew that she could do more for them.

 

They couldn't all be around her at the same time; there were still other people to fight, other people to protect… even if the fight was winding down, there were still spots of trouble that not just a group could attend to, they had to spread out. She found herself near Jaeha, who was hardly ever on the ground, but above it, throwing his knives with deadly accuracy, wounding enough people around him that Yona was able to beat them back a little.

 

It was when he was attacked when he was on the ground that Yona's vision went red a little. He was hurt and that wasn't allowed and he was disoriented enough that he couldn't get back up fast enough to prevent the staff heading towards him. Yona moved before she thought about it, getting the full brunt of the attack in her side, making her gasp for air as the pain vibrated through her body. She still held on, trying to hold her own and protect Jaeha at the same time. She would not let herself be taken down, she would not let him be hurt any further. She could do this, she could be strong and fight and protect those she loved.

 

I don't want to see them hurt again, I don't want to see them injured or sick or worried that they can't protect me.

 

She managed to knock the man out, turning to face Jaeha, making sure that he was okay. She didn't expect him to be facing her, shock and worry warring with anger on his face. "D… don't—" he took a deep breath, obviously trying to control himself. "Stop putting yourself in danger, Yona!"

 

The sound of the fighting was dying down around them and Jaeha and Yona found themselves in a sea of relative calm. "I … you were hurt!" she protested. "I couldn't let you get hurt worse." She clutched at her weapon, knuckles white from trying to hold on through the pain.

 

"You shouldn't put yourself in danger, though!" he nearly shouted, trying hard not to grab her and shake her. "You're a girl, Yona—and a princess and not…" he grimaced and looked away for a moment.

 

Her look turned even more stubborn. "A girl can still fight," she said fiercely. "I will not be weak and let everyone fight for me, fight my battles!" She stepped closer to him, making him look at her. "I know I'm not as strong as everyone else, or as smart as Yun. However, I will not get stronger without fighting and training and learning."

 

He gripped her shoulder, taking a deep breath. "We want to protect you, Yona," he tried to reason with her, but the stubborn look in her eyes was difficult to work around. "You're special and we want you safe. I know women can fight," he laughed softly. "Look at Captain Gi-gan. She's fiercer than any ten pirates put together. But Yona—it would kill us if you got hurt and you putting yourself in danger isn't helping you get stronger, it's only making it harder for us to stay away from you so that you can be safe." He touched her cheek gently, trying to hide his own feelings. "We love you."

 

Her shoulders slumped slightly. "You have to protect me," she whispered. "You have no choice, even if you try and deny it." Her look turned more sad than fierce and she pulled away. "Zeno said who I was and this whole… connection was set up long, long ago." She pulled away from him and smiled softly. "Not that I don't love you all," she said softly, "but I want to be strong enough to stand on my own two feet and I don't want any of you to get hurt when I do silly things. I want to be strong enough to fight beside all of you, not just hiding behind you."

 

She started to move towards the others, where there was still fighting. If he could feel the tug of their lives, she certainly could as well and she seemed determined to help the others now. "You should rest, Jaeha," she said firmly, one hand holding her side as if that would make her own injury go away. "I can't lose you, any of you."

 

Jaeha's eyes widened in shock and he grabbed her before he thought, lifting her up and jumping away with her, so that she could rest her own injury, so he could yell at her when no one else around to hear, where he could kiss her senseless and let her see that it wasn't just the dragon blood that made him want to hold her safe behind him and shield her from the world.

 

He heard her muffled squeak and her protests to let her down, now, there were the others that needed help, but he ignored them. Just like when he first met her and she risked her life on the cliff to prove herself, she was stubbornly stupid and making his heart try to claw its way of his chest with worry. She had gotten stronger and smarter and sturdier during that time, but his heart didn't want to listen to it. She was his master, the leader of the dragons and the girl that he was starting to stop denying he cared deeply for beyond the dragon blood.

 

Their camp wasn't horribly far away (it was how they were near when the fighting started) but far enough away that she couldn't get back in any reasonable sort of time before everything ended. She squirmed away from him as soon as they landed, glaring up at him. "You… you—why did you take me away?" she demanded. "I don't want to leave them alone to fight and they're… they're going to be worried…" she bit her lip, as if she just realized that her just being in the middle of all the fighting was cause enough for worry for the group.

 

Just because I'm the weak girl, the princess that needs to be protected.

 

Jaeha shook his head and sat her down firmly. "You are injured as well," he said firmly. "While I do appreciate the heroic gesture of making sure that I didn’t get injured further, you got hurt badly yourself and I know that I will get an earful from the others that I let such a thing happen." She opened her mouth to deny it, but he put a finger to her lips. "They will know, Yona---I'm frankly surprised they are not here already, trying to fuss over you like I am."

 

She huffed at him, warm breath tickling his fingers. "Then we should go back and help them," she insisted. "Well—you're hurt so you can't, but…"

 

He sighed and let his fingers trail down her cheek. "You are very hurt, Yona, even if you try to deny it. I can feel your pain, you know."

 

Her eyes widened in shock and dismay and he winced at letting that slip. She would feel even more guilty now and…

 

"That only means I need to get stronger!" She grinned up at him. "Jaeha…you like me being strong, you said that, didn't you?" she asked. The melancholy and anger had passed and she was more cheerful and teasing again. "It's why you said you followed me…" she tilted her head as he groaned in dismay.

 

"Yona dear, you do realize that I was speaking the truth when I told you I followed you because of your strength and strength of will?" he asked. "I won't deny that the dragon blood gives me an extra incentive, but I do this for you, Yona—I want to protect you." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her; a little more fiercely than he had intended, but his heart was still beating erratically from her forcefully throwing herself in front of a blow meant for him, of her arguments and her pain and her insistence on getting further tangled up in the fray just to protect those she loved.

 

He could see her eyes widen in shock at the kiss or his words or a combination of both. He wanted to be selfish enough to ignore her shock and he pulled her closer, biting on her lip gently and trying to deepen the kiss. One hand drifted down to her waist and her cry of pain made him pull away, cheeks flushed with more than just desire; he had hurt her already injured side.

 

Still—he could be teasing and concerned for all at once. If she didn't like the kiss or was going to question of think of him any differently… he had to do everything he could to make it as businesslike as possible.

 

The words that came out next didn't come out quite as planned, especially following the over-eager kiss of his. "Yona, dear—you'll have to remove your outer robe so that I can take a closer look at you."

 

She gaped up at him in shock, one hand going to her robe protectively, the other resting on her side. "I… what?" she stammered.

 

"Your injury," he managed to get out. Her eyes kept on straying to his face and he couldn't help a tiny smirk. He had affected her with the kiss, that much was certain and she wasn't yelling at him or backing away and he didn't sense any anger or disgust from her… "Unless you wanted to remove it for other purposes."

 

Her answering flush to his sally made him just laugh and he tugged on the ribbon. "All joking aside, Yona—I do need to see your injury and see what I can do for it. I learned enough on Gi-gan's ship that I can bandage you up if there is any bruising or broken bones."

 

She blinked at that and then looked down at her lap and his long, slender fingers tangled in the ribbon of her robes. "You'll have to take off more than just the top layer, in that case," she said, her voice oddly matter-of-fact.

 

He stared at her, covering his mouth with his free hand, a slight blush on his cheeks. He hadn't expected that response from her and struggled to formulate a response. "Well, if you're so eager, then—" he tugged the ribbon loose, being extremely gentle as he removed the first layer. He had been serious, even if she still had a cute blush on her cheeks and her hands trembled a little.

 

She's not going to mention the kiss? He gave her a sideways look as he gently pushed away the robe, keeping his eyes firmly away from anything that would make her flush harder or embarrass him (because it was Yona, after all) and hissed at the dark bruising that was already forming on her side.

 

"Yona…" he sighed and gently touched it, shaking his head. "This may be something that Yun will have to help with after all—I don't want to hurt you any worse if it's more than just deep bruising, after all." He bit his lip, worried. "You may have cracked a rib, after all."

 

She made a face at that. "They're all really going to be mad," she muttered, tugging her robes on again and wincing. "But you—" she tilted her head and tugged on his outer clothing. "You were hurt, too—" she hesitated only a moment. "But maybe you don't …want to show me?" she asked gently. It was on the side where his dragon leg was and she knew that he was sensitive about it.

 

He laughed softly. "Yona is asking me to take off my clothes for her," he grinned at her charmingly. "My injury isn't so far down that it would be a problem …" he hesitated and reached out to thumb away the tear that had streaked down her face, from the pain alone. "And you are one of the very few people that I wouldn't mind showing now if it came down to it."

 

She blushed at both the touch and the words, breathing in sharply. "Jaeha…" she helped him tug loose the clothing, biting her lip in concentration. Yun had spent time teaching her; she had found him more receptive than the others had in learning, since none of what he taught was violent or likely to put her in danger.

 

When she saw the blood, she hissed and immediately went for the supplies that Yun had here, smiling a little at the senjujou flowers that were in the bag. It had been her first act of bravery in her mind; standing firm and fighting past her fear.

 

Jaeha watched her silently as she worked, hands gentle and while not as skilled as Yun's deft ones, she was still careful enough that he didn’t feel any extra pain when she bandaged him up. "See, Yona?" he asked gently. "It wasn't as bad as you thought it was. You were hurt much more than I was."

 

She wrinkled her nose. "I wasn't bleeding," she muttered, but her hands still rested on his skin, feeling the warmth sink through her hands. "I'm just glad that we had the senjujou to help out." She smiled up at him and he couldn't help but lean closer again, stealing another kiss, this time his hand resting on the other side, more on her hip than her side and drawing out the kiss as if it was the natural extension of what to do.

 

"I'm happy too," he murmured against her lips, gazing down at her. "Yona…" he reached up and touched her hair with his other hand, eyes closing as he breathed in her presence. Her robes were still loose and her hands were gentle on his skin and then…

 

Then…

 

Jaeha groaned out loud and pulled away, but still kept a hand on her, as if he couldn't find a way to pull away completely. Yona sensed it as well and her gaze turned towards the pathway, her expression mixed between dismay and happiness. "They're all okay," she started to get up, but he kept his grip on her.

 

"You're still injured and they can come to us," he smiled lazily up at the group, taking in the lectures with ease, looking over at Yona and her bowed head, but enjoying the soft smile on her face as he hand reached out and squeezed his.

 

Ah, yes—this was something he could get used to. Not her injured, never—but her hands gentle on his and the warmth of her smile and skin against his was something he'd take advantage of it the future.


End file.
